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SkyrimProvement: Mod Skyrim into a Thief's Paradise

Come hither, shady, suspicious-looking fellow! I can tell you've got a bit of the thief about you. It's the pencil moustache, the stench of someone who's spent a great deal of time lurking in a sewer, and the frankly ridiculous amount of knives adorning your person. You like to steal, don't you? Well let's spruce up the world for you! In my oversized trenchcoat I have three modifications -- grand, sweeping changes to wreak across Skyrim that'll make your thieving more satisfying, and your sneaking more thrilling.

We've got ladders, but where are the chutes?

First up we've got Shenk's Thievery Overhaul. While its effects are perhaps not as obvious as you might expect, it actually makes some pretty fundamental changes to the world of Skyrim. The first, and most immediate, is that the five major cities are suddenly riddled with ladders and alternate pathways that make them more sneak-and-steal friendly. The ladders operate as teleporters onto the rooftops, and there are all sorts of ratways and new sewers running under the streets to aid in getting around.

These vaults are thievery gauntlets, complete with traps and guards all over the place.

Then there are the vaults. So far they're secure underneath Markarth, Solitude, and Whiterun, but the aim is to give every city one of their very own. These are thievery gauntlets, complete with traps and guards all over the place. But the rewards are worth it, with both fiscal and tangible prizes for the taking, with even a few unique items thrown into the mix. The interesting thing about them is that they are almost harder to find then break into, requiring either proper "casing" of the "joint" or "canvasing" for "clues." I've done my research.

Shenks Thievery Overhaul also improves the guard presence in almost all the cities, giving residence and commercial properties night watchmen, even if it is only a guard dog for the poorer districts. Nevertheless, it makes wanton thieving a slightly more daunting prospect -- which makes the three new arrow types all the more useful.

By far the most subtle is the Noisemaker Arrow, which creates a distracting sound to attract the attention of the guards to somewhere you're not. This feature may be outright stolen from Thief, but, well... thieves, remember? The Immolation Arrow that sets things on fire isn't exactly the first choice when you're trying to keep a low profile, but it is fun. Similarly, the Blinding Arrow is a last resort when things have gone pear shaped and you need to make a hasty escape.

The night is dark and full of terrors.

Where's Shenk's Thievery Overhaul changes the world around you, Path of Shadows changes you, overhauling the entire way that stealth works within Skyrim, from the perks to interaction with NPCs.

The major changes come to how the perks work, eliminating the woefully overpowered ones.

The major changes come to how the perks work, eliminating the woefully overpowered ones such as Light Foot, which meant you never triggered traps. The aim is to bring more balance to stealth in Skyrim, which explains the heavy adjustment to how line-of-sight and light work to enhance or diminish your visibility. When you're out of view you're now much less likely to be seen (as counterintuitive as that sounds) and in addition sounds are far more emphasised, meaning you need to shift to walking if you want to get a proper backstab in.

Armor and weapon weight, too, makes a bigger difference, which means grabbing a great big two-handed sword and trying to sneak attack with it might not be the best idea. In essence, this is going to make sneaking considerably harder and more akin to something like Deus Ex: Human Revolution's heavy leaning on Line of Sight rather than the occasionally abstract feeling of Skyrim's current system. And it works, for the most part, making sneaking a far more tense and thoughtful affair.

Hide yer kids, hide yer wife, hide yer kids, hide yer wife...

You can sneak into every building in Solitude, Whiterun, and Windhelm using windows rather than the front door.

Hey, did it suddenly get drafty in here? Oh, it's our final mod: Enterable Windows, the fenestration enthusiast's wet dream. It's still a work in progress (really, aren't all mods?) but the current version allows you to sneak into every building in Solitude, Whiterun, and Windhelm using windows rather than the front door -- which, while certainly very gentlemanly, isn't exactly the most subtle way to go about breaking and entering. The long-term goal is to retrofit every building in Skyrim, making it much easier to gain entry without alerting everyone in the area that you're gaining entry.

With these three under your belt, or in your pouch, or... wherever you thieves keep your stuff, skulking around Skyrim should be considerably more interesting and varied. Your stealth will be stealthier, your thieving more thievery, and your backstabbing far more satisfyingly brutal.

Spy Guy says: These are my kind of mods! I always tend to play as a stealthy character in RPGs -- go figure -- so new sneaking challenges and abilities are just what the spy-doctor ordered. What's your best in-game thieving accomplishment?